Shooting death met with anger, prayers (teen prankster)

The Palm Beach Post ^ | Monday, October 27 | Josh Mitchell, Cynthia Kopkowski and Thomas R. Collins

[lifacs]

Monday, October 27

Shooting death met with anger, prayers

By Josh Mitchell, Cynthia Kopkowski and Thomas R. Collins, Palm Beach Post Staff Writers Monday, October 27, 2003

With hundreds of mourners surrounding them, Luciana and Gregory Drewes broke down in sobs at a church altar Sunday when a priest beseeched worshipers to pray for their dead teenage son.

"I want him back," Luciana Drewes cried as she hugged family members at St. Jude Catholic Church in suburban Boca Raton.

Sixteen-year-old Mark Andrew Drewes was shot dead Saturday during a midnight prank. He had rung the doorbell of Jay Steven Levin of Boca Del Mar, who confronted the 6-foot-2 youth with a pistol.

Levin, 40, told deputies he thought Drewes was a burglar and feared for his life. He has not been charged.

From Sunday's church service, scores of family members and friends, including many of Drewes' classmates at Pope John Paul II High School, held a candlelight vigil in front of Levin's home. Some talked about knocking on Levin's door. Instead, the group prayed.

"We will never forget you, Mark," said his best friend, 15-year-old A.J. Lepore. Others then shouted, "We love you, Mark!"

Hours earlier, some Boca Del Mar residents had protested on Levin's street, waving signs and demanding his arrest.

Authorities, however, said there was no need to move quickly, that arresting Levin at this point could hinder the investigation. The case's lead detective planned to meet today with prosecutors for a briefing, said Diane Carhart, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office.

Levin could not be reached Sunday and apparently was not at home. Levin's father said he couldn't talk about what his son told him about the incident.

"He's very distraught, and so are we, actually," Howard Levin said from his home in Baltimore. "He's just so upset for the family."

Levin told investigators he had been roused from sleep by his doorbell about 12:30 a.m. Saturday at his home on Woodbury Road. Levin said he armed himself with a handgun and opened the door, finding Drewes on his doorstep.

Levin told investigators he thought the teenager was armed.

He shot Drewes once, then called 911, Carhart said. The boy collapsed in a neighbor's yard and died at Delray Medical Center. He was unarmed, Carhart said.

A 17-year-old friend who said he was with Drewes also said Drewes was unarmed.

"He knocked on the door, and he was already running away," the boy said. He said he gave police the same account. He asked that his name not be printed.

He and several other friends had spent Friday night and early Saturday celebrating Mark's 16th birthday. It was Mark's idea to play a game in which he would knock on doors and then run away.

"He wanted to go out and do this," Lepore said.

Lepore said he didn't engage in the bell-ringing. Instead, he and another friend decided to go play video games.

One front yard along Woodbury Road contained handwritten signs Sunday that read, "Jay Levin is a Child Murderer," and "Ring Doorbell, Get Shot."

Some residents acknowledged -- some with a degree of embarrassment -- a desire for revenge.

"I just want to go over and get rid of that guy," said Zoltan Szervanszki, a soft-spoken father of two teenage boys, who glowered through his front window at Levin's house across the street. "The lack of an arrest is disturbing."

The state's attorney's office will wait until all evidence is available -- including autopsy results, which could take several weeks -- to determine if charges should be filed or if a grand jury indictment should be sought, spokesman Mike Edmondson said.

Police are reluctant to arrest someone immediately in cases like this though, Edmondson said, because it can jeopardize a conviction by prematurely starting the clock on a defendant's right to a speedy trial.

Arrests usually are only made when the person is believed to be a flight risk.

"It could actually harm their case if they commit to a legal theory without having full knowledge" of all evidence, including autopsy results, Edmondson said.

When residents gathered in clusters along Woodbury Road Sunday morning, one neighbor, who would not give his name, said he was "trying not to rush to judgment" and that Levin had "always been nice" to his teenage sons.

Others said Levin, who lived alone, exhibited a bad temper when their dogs strayed too close to his neatly manicured lawn.

All day Sunday, Drewes' family arrived at the home of his aunt, many bleary-eyed from overnight flights from their native Brazil. Drewes' father arrived on an afternoon flight from France to Miami.

Drewes' grandmother said the slain boy's mother was inconsolable.

"She would like to die," Lais Piza said. "She says she will never again go back to that house."

Family members expressed frustration with Levin's account of the shooting.

"At least in the movies they say, 'Halt,' " said the boy's uncle, Marcelo Piza. "For this to happen in a place like Boca Raton, such a nice upper-class area, it seems unreal."

Parishioners at St. Jude, where the Drewes family worships, grappled with the same questions.

"All the kids want revenge," said Laura Twomey, after lighting a vigil candle for the Drewes family. She had spent the past 24 hours comforting her teenage son, who was a classmate and friend of Drewes.

"People want revenge, but he'll get what's coming to him," Twomey said. "God will take care of it."

josh_mitchell@pbpost.com, cynthia_kopkowski@pbpost.com ,tom_collins@pbpost.com

[lifacs]

Well, this morning on the local news(wpec/cbs) they said the boys were engaged in a prank that involves taking fishing line and tying it to the door knocker. Then they would hide in the bushes and pull the string. They made it sound like he shot out into the bushes in the dark. Seems like we will hear twenty different versions before the actual truth gets ironed out. There is no mention of this in the printed article in the Palm Beach Post.

WPEC also showed on the local news, children walking in the neighborhood and in front of Mr. Levin's house carrying signs stating such things as "Jay Levin is a murderer".

Original story from yesterday

[alisasny]

I also have been hearing stories about the homeowner shooting dogs with BB guns. Any confirmation on this?

[lifacs]

No, I haven't heard about BB guns and dogs.

[basil]

It's a shame someone died. I'm just struck by the fact that 16 year olds were playing ring and run! It seems like most kids get that out of their systems by age 9 or 10.

The guy doing the shooting sounds like a real winner--sheesh!

[HELLRAISER II]

I guess this kid doesn't get blamed for any of this, huh? If he hadn't been doing something stupid, he wouldn't have been shot. Now granted it wasn't something I would have shot someone for, but it may have scared the s**t out of this poor guy. My point is this man may go to jail and this dumb@ss kid is dead, all over a prank. It is truly a sad thing, but all the blame does not fall on the man who shot him.

[HELLRAISER II]

So, what if he did?

[not_apathetic_anymore]

classmates at Pope John Paul II High School, held a candlelight vigil in front of Levin's home. Some talked about knocking on Levin's door.

I understand they're kids, greiving, angry, want revenge, and want to do SOMETHING. But it seems as if some didn't learn much of a lesson about knocking on strangers doors, avoiding needless confrontations and tragedies that can ensue.

[fml]

---Others said Levin, who lived alone, exhibited a bad temper when their dogs strayed too close to his neatly manicured lawn.---

Oh my! I shoo kids and dogs off my yard all the time. Its now criminal to want your property nice. I can't stand it when a terrible thing like this happens, and so many folks use it a way to focus attention of themselves.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Check out yesterdays thread. The kid got plenty of blame here.

[ought-six]

Well, the homeowner did the wrong thing right up front: He opened the damn door! I don't open the door at all, especially at 12:30 a.m., unless I know the person who's out there. I tell whomever is out there that I don't give a damn what they're selling, and that I'm not interested in any case.

[HamiltonJay]

Ringing someones DOORBELL is something that should get you shot? Please this is the type of gun owner that gives all gun owners a bad name!

All the blame does fall on the man with the gun! If you are so damned fearful to open your door that you feel the need to shoot someone standing on your doorstep or running off it, then you shouldn't be opening your door.

Sorry but your attempt to blame the victim is nonsense.

[HELLRAISER II]

Maybe you should re-read my post. I didn't put all the blame on the little punk for what he did. I said he was at least partially to blame for his own fate, as a matter of fact I specifically said I wouldn't have shot him. But you know making excuses for this kid doing this is not going to bring him back. As for being fearful, maybe he is, maybe he's not. But someone coming to my door after midnight would also get my attention, would I shoot him for no reason? Absolutely not! Would I have a pistol in my hand? Maybe, but I would definately have a reason to shoot before I shot someone.

[beckett]

If the entry wound is in the boy's back this guy is going down for involuntary manslaughter.

Even if the boy was shot in the chest the shooter will have a hard time staying out of jail. He overreacted egregiously. And when you are carrying a gun and you overreact, somebody could get killed.

This is a bad news case for 2nd Amendment defenders on this forum and throughout the country.

[HamiltonJay]

Sorry, he's not at fault for someone with a gun who obviously is not remotely responsible enough to own one. If someone simply standing on your stoop and ringing your doorbell, or running away from your stoop after ringing your doorbell causes you to shoot them, you have no business with a gun!

Blaming someone for ringing a doorbell at 12:30am for getting shot is nonsense. You are playing blame the victim here... sure was it not the brightest thing to do? Sure, but stupidity is not a crime and its certainly not one subject to summary deadly force and murder, which if the facts of this case are as they are being presented here, that's exactly what this gun owner did.

Sorry, trying to blame someone for ringing a doorbell at 12:30am as part of the reason they are dead? Be real. If this had been a plain closed police officer who rung the doorbell would you feel the same? If it were your son or wife who had done so looking for help, would you be spewing this same nonsense? Please, I have no problem with someone being cautious at a knock on your door at 12:30am, however opening fire on them is another story entirely.

Unless this kid did attack this man, try forecable to enter his home or some other intimidating or threatening act, the sole person to blame for this is the shooter. Trying to play it any other way is simply nonsense.

[Oztrich Boy]

I figure anyone who knocks on your door at 12:30 AM has a duty to behave in a non-suspicious manner. Fail to do that and the home-owner may draw the wrong conclusion.

[GB]

There's a difference between shooing and shooting. In my neck of the woods, a former county commissioner just got convicted and fined for a misdemeanor when after a neighbor's dog, who from all testimony had never done any past damage to his property and in fact never had any history of being on his property, happened to wander into his yard, he picked up a shotgun he had on his porch and blew the poor pooch into many pieces.

[HELLRAISER II]

O.K. i'm going to try this again. I don't think he shoud've been shot, I wouldn't have shot him and I wouldn't place all blame on this kid for doing something stupid. However, he picked the house. He did the deed, he got shot. Now that's not placing all the blame on him, it's simply stating facts.

[alisasny]

Rumours are floating around and a vigilant could take matters into his own hands.

I fear for the life of the homeowner right now seeing that the community is placing ZERO blame on the kid who caused his fate.

[Semper Paratus]

If that was the police and he answered the door with a gun in his hand that would have been another funeral.

[alisasny]

stupidity is not a crime is true however being stupid can get you killed in many instances He would be alive today if he were not stupid. Sadly he seemed to have a great record with his school and church but why was he doing something so stupid?